Solvent extraction process to stabilize, desulphurize and dry wide range diesels, stabilized wide range diesels obtained and their uses

ABSTRACT

A process allowing the removal of contaminants from an unstable oil such as those produced by thermal or catalytic cracking, wherein, in at least one step of the process, mixing of the unstable oil with a pure or impure solvent having a dipole moment greater than 2 is performed. The stabilized diesels thereby obtained exhibit interesting properties among which significant stability features and are useful in numerous applications, some of these stabilized wide range diesels are new as well as their uses.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of PCT patent application No.PCT/CA2011/050117 filed on 28 Feb. 2011, which claims priority toCanadian patent applications Nos. 2,694,821, 2,694,850 and 2,694,853filed on 1 Mar. 2010. The content of all these applications is herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to an extraction process using a polarized solventhaving a dipole moment greater than 2, to stabilize wide range diesels,containing or not free radicals, such as those produced by the thermalor catalytic cracking of used oils, heavy oils, vacuum gasoils orbunkers. The new process markedly improves colour, odour and storagestability of thermally cracked gasoils so they can meet marketspecifications. The extraction process also removes water, sulphurouscompounds and chlorides when present from the wide range diesels,reduces their total acid number and increases their cetane index.

The invention also relates to a new family of wide range diesels,including those wide range diesels obtained by the processes of theinvention, as well as to numerous uses of the wide range diesels of theinvention, and more particularly to lucrative uses and/or to someapplications beneficial to the environment.

BACKGROUND

Gasoils or diesels produced from thermal or catalytic cracking processesare known to be unstable. While in storage, they form gums and polymersthat can plug burner tips in furnaces or filters in engines. Further,new environmental constraints demand that these fuels reduce theirsulphur, nitrogen, water and chlorides contents. Hydrotreating iscommonly used in refineries to stabilize gasoils and to remove some oftheir contaminants. However, hydrotreating processes require highpressures and/or temperatures and the reactors must either be made of,or clad with, high alloy steels to resist hydrogen permeation in themetal walls. There must also be a hydrogen plant or pipeline close by.Because of the high costs of such units, they are only viable as part ofrefineries or large plants. Also, the hydrotreated oils must be dried tomeet water content and appearance specifications.

Used lubricating oils are classified as hazardous products in manycountries, mostly because of the additives that they contain. Of all theby-products from the oil industry, used oils pose the greatest danger tothe fresh water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statesthat: “One gallon of used oil can pollute one million gallons of water”.Among the processes to treat used oils for their reuse as fuel, thermalcracking is a viable option for smaller facilities. More precisely, theadditives in the used oil must be destroyed and removed. The mainproduct is a wide range diesel or heating fuel. It tends to darken assoon as it comes into contact with air: it is unstable. Also, the widerange diesel has a high sulphur content, 3 or 4 times the 0.1% wtsulphur specification for heating oils in Europe, and has a bad odour.

Processes to stabilize and/or desulphurize diesel fuels produced bycracking heavier oils are well known. In refineries, hydrocracking andhydrotreating processes use hydrogen in catalytic reactors at hightemperatures and pressures to achieve clear, stable diesel fuels withgood burning characteristics and with sulphur contents as low as 15 ppmthat meet ultra-low sulphur specifications. These processes not onlyrequire large, heavy reactors made of metals that resist hydrogenpermeation, and corrosion, but also require hydrogen production plantsor pipelines near-by. They are not suited for small or isolatedrefineries or used oil applications.

In used oil applications, the UOP Hylube process (U.S. Pat. No.5,904,838) uses hydrogen at high temperatures and pressures to recyclethe feed oil into lubricating oils. Others hydrotreat only the lube oilproducts, obtained by successive distillations of used oils.

Canadian Patent No. 2,245,025 (Ikura et al.) mentions that gasoilproduced by thermal cracking of used oils can be stabilized usingmethanol extraction.

There are also processes to remove sulphur and/or water from naphtha andother light oils but these are not applicable to diesel fuels. In thesolutizer process, Canadian Patents Nos. 456,448 (Border) and 456,599(Bell et al.) mention that mercaptans and other weak acids contained insour hydrocarbon distillates, and more particularly in gasolinedistillates, would be extracted with solutizer solution, i.e. aqueoussolutions of alkali metal hydroxides containing solutizers.

Hassan et al. (Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 5(5); pp. 515-521,2009) mention that sulphur could be removed from straight run dieselfuel with a mixture of NMP (normal methyl pyridine), ethylene glycol,DMF (dimethyl formamide) and furfural.

Toteva, Topalova, and Manolova (Journal of the University of ChemicalTechnology and Metallurgy, 42, I, 2007, pp. 17-20) mention thattwo-stage extraction of diesel fuel with DMF could reduce the aromaticsand sulphur (from 2% wt to 0.33% wt) in a non-hydrotreated diesel fuel.This is not enough to meet heating fuel specifications for sulphur ofless than 0.1% wt.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,320,090 (Sherman et al.) mentions that DMF could be usedas a solvent to remove mostly poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) as wellas sulphur and nitrogen compounds from used oils that have beensubjected to successive vacuum distillations.

Others have tried solvent extraction processes to remove sulphurcompounds from fuel oils.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,102 (Funakoshi et al.) uses a mixture of acetone,water and iodine as the preferred solvent to remove sulphur from variousstraight run oils. They also tested more polarized solvents includingDMF, acetonitrile, trimethyl phosphate, nitromethane, methanol,hexamethyl phosphoramide, acetic acid, pyridine, andN-methylperolidinone with less success.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,572 (Horii et al.) completes the sulphur removalfrom oil that has been hydrotreated using organic solvent containingnitrogen, specifically pyridinium salts, with another solvent containinghydroxyl groups, specifically one or more of water, methanol, ethanol,propanol, butanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol. Hydrotreating is themore costly process.

In the process described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,303 (Taylor et al.),oils produced via cracking processes, ranging from cracked naphtha,gasoil and vacuum residue, are contacted with an extraction solvent toreduce their sulphur and nitrogen content prior to hydrotreating. Thesolvents used are polarized and in an aqueous solution. They includeN-methyl pyrrolidone, furfural, DMF, and phenol.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,448 (Googin et al.) mention a polar solvent,specifically DMF and water, intended to remove polychlorinated biphenyls(PCB) from transformer oil. A second extraction using a non-polarsolvent, chosen from normal pentane to normal octane, is intended toremove the PCB from the polar solvent.

For the past ten years, several oil desulphurization processes use anoxidizing agent and a catalyst to oxidize mercaptans and thiols in theoil. In a second step, polarized solvents are used to extract thesulphur oxides from the oil.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,785 (Gore) uses dimethylsulfoxide as the extractionsolvent.

Canadian Patent No. 1,287,007 (Kittrel et al.) suggests using solventshaving a dipole moment greater than 2, mixed with water, to extract thesulphur and nitrogen oxides from the oil.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,817 (Reid) mentions that cracked oils can bestabilized with additive injection. However, additives do not removemercaptans and thiols from the oil.

The complete solvent regeneration is difficult because the solvents andthe oils to treat have similar boiling points and gravities. Solventlosses render these processes impractical.

There was therefore a need for a new process able to stabilize,desulphurize, neutralize and dry wide range diesel, which process beingfree of at least one of the drawbacks of the prior processes.

There was therefore also a need for a process able to stabilize,desulphurize, neutralize and dry the heating oil to meet the heating oilspecifications, which process being free of at least one of thedrawbacks of the prior processes.

There was a further need for a process that would also be effective inreducing the sulphur in diesel cuts produced by catalytic or thermalcracking of heavy oils in refineries.

There was particularly a need for a low cost process to stabilize andremove contaminants from wide range diesels or gasoils that can be usedin smaller plants, such as used oil cracking units.

There was a further need for new stabilized wide range diesel obtainedfrom an unstable oil.

There was also a need for uses of a stabilized and/or desulphurized widerange of diesel.

SUMMARY

A first object of the present invention is the process to stabilize andto remove contaminants from an unstable oil, the process comprising atleast one step of mixing the unstable oil with an impure solvent havinga dipole moment greater than 2.

According to a preferred embodiment, the processes allow to stabilizeand to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the unstableoil is selected among the family of: mixtures made for at least 50% wtof hydrocarbons which may include free radicals, oils produced bythermal cracking, oils obtained by catalytic cracking, oils obtained bydecomposition, oils obtained by degradation, and the mixtures of atleast two of the latter oils.

Advantageously, in order to stabilize and to remove contaminants from anunstable oil, the process includes at least one step of contacting astream of the unstable oil with a solvent having a dipole moment greaterthan 2 and, thus, obtaining two mixtures, the first mixture being of anoil-solvent type and containing impurities, and the second mixture beingof a solvent-oil type and containing residues and impurities, theimpurities in the solvent-oil mixture being identical to, or differentfrom, the impurities in the oil-solvent mixture.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, in theprocesses at least a fraction of the solvent having a dipole momentgreater than 2 that is present in at least one of the two mixtures isextracted from the mixture(s) and is at least partially regeneratedbefore being recycled to the process.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, theprocesses comprise the following steps of:

-   -   a) intimately contacting a stream of the unstable oil with a        solvent having a dipole moment greater than 2 and, thus,        obtaining two mixtures, the first mixture being of an        oil-solvent type and containing impurities, and the second        mixture being of a solvent-oil type and containing residues and        impurities, the impurities in the solvent-oil mixture being        identical or different from the impurities in the oil-solvent        mixture;    -   b) separating the treated oil, present in the oil-solvent        mixture obtained in step a), from the solvent, leaving most of        the impurities in the solvent phase;    -   c) separating the solvent and the oil, present in the        solvent-oil mixture obtained in step a), from the residues,        leaving preferably at least 90% wt of the contaminants in the        residues;    -   d) optionally separating the solvent and the light oil present        in the oil-solvent mixture obtained in step b);    -   e) optionally separating the solvent and the oil obtained in        step c); and    -   f) recycling at least one of the solvents obtained in steps b),        c), d) or e), wherein each of the solvent is at least partially        regenerated.

The processes of the invention are particularly suited to stabilize andto remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein, in step b), atleast 80% wt, preferably at least 90% wt, of the impurities remain inthe solvent phase.

Advantageously, in step f), at least one of each of the solvent isregenerated for at least 50% wt but for less or equal to 99% wt, andpreferably for at least 55% wt but for less or equal to 98% wt, beforerecycling.

Preferably, in step f), at least one of each of the solvent isregenerated by physical means such as distillation, vacuum distillation,including thin film or wiped film evaporation, azeotropic distillation,and or centrifuging.

Advantageously, in step f), at least one of each of the solvent isregenerated by using vacuum distillation and/or centrifuging.

The processes of the invention are of a particular interest wherein theboiling range of the unstable oil, as measured by the method ASTM D86,ranges from 125° C. to 500° C. and preferably when the boiling rangeranges from 175° C. to 450° C.

Advantageously, the boiling range of the treated oil in step a), asmeasured by the method ASTM D86, ranges from 125° C. to 500° C. and morepreferably ranges from 175° C. to 450° C.

The processes of the invention are of a particular interest when appliedto unstable oils produced by cracking used oil, heavy oil, bitumen,vacuum gasoil, vacuum residue, tar, synthetic crude oil, bunker or isproduced by cracking a mixture of at least two of these solvents.

Advantageous results are obtained when the initial solvent is chosenamong N-methyl pyrrolidone, furfural, dimethyl formamide, phenol,pyridine, dimethyl acetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide and propylenecarbonate, and among mixtures of at least 2 of these.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the process, tostabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein theregenerated solvent, obtained in steps b), c), d) and/or f), stillcontains some impurities or reaction products.

The processes of the invention are of a particular interest, when thecontaminants present in the treated or untreated unstable oil include:water, sulphur compounds such as mercaptans and thiols, organicchlorides, organic and inorganic acids, free radicals, resins, gums,sediments, reaction products and mixtures of at least two of these.

The solvent concentration in the regenerated solvent stream obtained, instep f), advantageously ranges from 50% wt to 99% wt.

Advantageously, the solvent concentration in the regenerated solventstream obtained, in step f), ranges from 70% wt to 90% wt and is morepreferably about 83% wt.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the regeneratedsolvent is produced, in step f), by a physical process such asdistillation and/or centrifugation. The distillation is thusadvantageously performed at pressures ranging from 0.5 psia to 15 psia,advantageously from 0.55 psia to 12 psia, preferably the distillationpressures ranging from 0.6 psia to 12 psia, advantageously from 0.7 psiato 4 psia and more preferably the distillation is performed at pressuresabout 1.5 psia.

Advantageously, the regenerated solvent is produced, in steps b), c),d), and f), by distillation conducted at temperatures ranging from 50°C. to 350° C., more preferably distillations are thus conducted attemperatures ranging from 100° C. to 175° C., and more preferably at atemperature of about 130° C.

The processes of the invention are of a particular interest when theimpurities, present in the regenerated and/or recycled solvent, have aboiling temperature ranging from 120° C. to 250° C., and more preferablyin the case wherein the impurities, present in the regenerated and/orrecycled solvent, have a boiling temperature ranging from 130° C. to200° C.

The processes are very efficient when the impurities, present in theregenerated and/or recycled solvent, have catalytic and/or solutionenhancing and/or bridging properties.

The processes are very efficient when in step a) the solvent extractionis carried out at temperatures not exceeding the decompositiontemperature of the solvent. In the case of DMF, the temperature isadvantageously 10% above the boiling point of the solvent and notexceeding 400° C. Preferably, in the particular case of DMF, the solventextraction is carried out at temperatures ranging from 8° C. to 175° C.,more preferably at temperatures ranging from 15° C. to 155° C.,advantageously from 15° C. to 150° C., more advantageously attemperatures ranging from 10° C. to 40° C., and more preferably at atemperature of about 25° C.

Advantageously, the solvent extraction in step b) is carried out as soonas possible after the unstable oil is produced, preferably after lessthan 1 day, and more preferably after less than 5 minutes after thecracked oil is produced.

According to a preferred embodiment, the initial solvent to oil volumeratio ranges from between 5/1 and 1/5, preferably this ratio is between2/1 and 1/2; more preferably about 1/1.

Advantageously, step a) of the processes is performed in a continuouslystirred extraction column.

Advantageously, step b) of the processes is performed by using at leastone of the following separation techniques such as: in a thin filmevaporator, in a wiped film evaporator, azeotropic distillation and/orin a centrifuge or by combination of at least two of these methods.

According to another preferred embodiment of the process of theinvention to stabilize and remove contaminants, step c) of the processesis advantageously performed by physical separation such as settling,vacuum flashing, distillation in a thin film evaporator, in a wiped filmevaporator, azeotropic distillation, and/or in other separationequipment such as a centrifuge or by combination of at least two ofthese methods.

Advantageously, step d) of the processes is performed by phaseaccumulation, or in a wiped film evaporator or in a centrifuge or bycombination of at least two of these methods.

The processes of the invention are of a particular interest for treatingcontaminated wide range diesel fuel, the initial solvent is thusadvantageously a nearly pure solvent having a dipole moment greater than2.

The stable operation of the processing unit, wherein the operatingconditions remain unchanged, may be reached, depending upon the size ofthe unit and/or upon the type of the unit and/or upon the solvent, inbetween 5 and 120 minutes, and preferably in about 45 minutes.

The processes of the invention are also of a particular interest fortreating thermally cracked oils or thermally cracked used oil, and theinitial solvent, having a dipole moment greater than 2, is thusadvantageously DMF.

In the processes of the invention, the initial temperature in step a) isbetween 15° C. and 110° C., preferably between 20° C. and 30° C., andthe initial temperatures in steps b), c) and d) are between 10° C. and175° C. and more preferably is about 25° C.

In the processes of the invention, the initial pressures in steps b), c)and d) are between 0.5 psia and atmospheric pressure.

According to a preferred embodiment, the temperatures in the varioussteps of the processes are determined by the vacuum distillationobtained, but kept below the thermal decomposition temperature of thesolvent and/or the cracking or polymerization initiation temperatures ofthe oil.

Advantageously, the equilibrium temperature in step a) is between 15° C.and 100° C., and most preferably about 25° C.

The solvent content in the recycled solvent stream is preferably between50% wt and 99% wt, more preferably between 60% wt and 95% wt, and mostadvantageously about 83% wt.

According to further preferred embodiments of the invention:

-   -   the temperatures in steps b), c) and d) are between 10° C. and        175° C.; and/or    -   the pressures in steps b), c) and d) are between 0.5 psia and        atmospheric pressure; and/or    -   the residual water content in the stabilized diesel obtained is        less than 1% wt, preferably less than 0.25% wt; and/or    -   the residual water content in the stabilized diesel, obtained in        step a), is less than 1% wt, preferably less than 0.25% wt.

A second object of the present invention is constituted by the family ofthe stabilized diesels obtained by any one of the processes defined inthe first object of the present invention.

These stabilized diesels are, according to ASTM method D6468, stable forat least a day, advantageously for at least a week, or until it is used,and most preferably they are stable for about 6 months or more.

Among the stabilized diesels obtained by the processes of the invention,these having at least one of the following properties:

-   -   a sulphur content, according to ISO 8754, that is less than 0.2%        wt, preferably less than 0.1% wt, and more preferably about        0.08% wt, are of a particular interest;    -   a boiling temperature, according to ASTM D-86, that is comprised        between 150° C. and 500° C., preferably between 175° C. and 450°        C.;    -   an abnormal peak in the ASTM D-86 curb in the in the area of the        peak of recycled solvent, i.e. of the solvent that passes at        least once through the process, preferably in the 0 to 10% area        of distilled volume, and more advantageously in the area of 5%        of distilled volume, appears to be new and are of a particular        interest;    -   a total acid number, according to ASTM 996, that is lower than        4, preferably lower than 1; and    -   a cetane index over 40.

A third object of the present invention is constituted by the family ofnew stabilized diesels showing:

-   -   according to ASTM method D6468, a stability for at least a day,        or until it is used;    -   according to ASTM method D1500, a colour index that is lower        than 3; and    -   an abnormal peak, in the ATM D-86 curb, in the 0 to 10% area of        distilled volume.

Preferably, new stabilized diesel of the invention has a boilingtemperatures range that is, according to ASTM D-86, comprised between150° C. and 450° C.

A fourth object of the present invention is made by the uses of astabilized fuel obtained by one of the process defined in the firstobject of the present invention, or as defined in the second and thirdobject of the present invention, as:

-   -   a fuel, or a component in a blended fuel, such as a home heating        oil, a low sulphur marine fuel, a diesel engine fuel, a static        diesel engine fuel, power generation fuel, farm machinery fuel,        off road and on road diesel fuel; and/or    -   a cetane index enhancer; and/or    -   a drilling mud base oil or component, preferably in the same way        as currently produced wide range diesels are used; and/or    -   a solvent or component of a solvent; and/or    -   a diluent for heavy fuels, bunker or bitumen; and/or    -   a light lubricant or component of a lubricating oil; and/or    -   a cleaner or a component in oil base cleaners; and/or    -   a flotation oil component; and/or    -   a wide range diesel; and/or    -   a clarified oil; and/or    -   a component in asphalt blends.

As an illustrative and non-limitative example of use as a cetane indexenhancer, if a refinery has 10,000 barrels of diesel fuel with a cetaneindex of 38, adding 1,000 barrels of a new stabilized oil of theinvention, with a 60 cetane index, will bring the combined 11,000barrels to the specified 40 cetane index for road diesel in NorthAmerica.

As an illustrative and non-limitative example of use as flotationcomponent, when mixed with a product such as a refinery's catalyticcracker fractionators bottom oil (CCFB). The ratio of stabilized oil toCCFB can vary between 1/0.5 and 1/5 depending on the type of oreentering the floatation cell, its concentration, particle size, densityand temperature.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the stabilized diesel, areused in a mixture in combination with:

-   -   conventional diesel fuels, low sulphur diesels or wide range        diesel oils; and/or    -   bitumen, light or heavy vacuum gasoil, heavy fuels, bunker, tar        or asphalt products; and/or    -   refinery intermediate streams such as catalytic cracker        fractionators bottoms; and/or    -   organic solvents; and/or    -   water and/or additives to make specialty products such as        drilling muds or fractionating oils; and/or    -   lubricating base oils, greases and additives to make lube oils        or greases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a simplified flow sheet that illustrates an example of anembodiment of a process according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the steps performed, and thestreams produced while operating in the preferred embodiment describedherein.

FIG. 3 is a distillation curve of raw and treated gasoil, along with thedistillation curves of pure and recycled solvent; of the wide rangediesel obtained by the process according to the invention, as furtherspecified in example 3 thereafter.

FIG. 4 is another distillation curve of raw and treated gasoil, alongwith the distillation curves of pure and recycled solvent, of the widerange diesel obtained by a process according to the invention, asfurther specified in example 4 thereafter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Preliminary Definitions

Unstable oils: are mixtures mainly made of hydrocarbons that maydegrade, for example by aging and/or heating and/or under oxidizingconditions such as air exposition, oxygen exposition, high temperaturesand/or in the presence of catalysts. This expression more particularlycovers any mixtures of hydrocarbons containing free radicals (and morespecifically those mixtures containing at least 50% wt of hydrocarbons),any oil which colour deteriorates when exposed to heat or/and oxygenand/or other oils; any oils produced by thermal cracking and/or oilsobtained by catalytic cracking and/or oils obtained by decompositionand/or unstable oils obtained by degradation, and the mixtures of atleast two of the latter unstable oils; the processes of the inventionare suited for stabilizing any such unstable oils in the broader sense

Wide range diesel: are oils mainly based on mixtures of hydrocarbonswith boiling points between 100° C. and 500° C.

Impurities: one or more chemical compounds that may be unwanted in amixture but that may finally assist the extraction process.

Residues: contaminant and by-products obtained by reaction and/orextraction, that are unwanted and to be eliminated.

GOn: gasoil (wide range diesels) in different steps of the process ofthe invention, n is a numerical index, an integral number, each of theseintegers corresponding to step of the process and represent changes incomposition.

Initial solvent: solvent introduced at the beginning of the process andbefore its contamination by the solubilizing component.

FIG. 1 is a simplified flow sheet that illustrates an example of anembodiment of a process according to the invention. As shown, pure DMF(dimethyl formamide) and/or recycled DMF is introduced at the top of acontinuously stirred contactor (1), while the cracked oil to be treatedis introduced at the bottom of the column. A decanter (7) at the top ofthe column separates the raffinate (16) from the DMF. A decanter (8) atthe bottom of the column separates the extract (17) from the oil to betreated. The column has up to 30 compartments (2), separated from eachother by a disc with a hole in the middle (5). A stirrer shaft (3)equipped with paddles (4) ensures good mixing of the solvent with theoil at each level. The stirrer motor (6) is mounted at the top of thetop decanter (7). The oil level in the contacting column is held with alevel controller or simply with a column of liquid (9) using theprinciple of communicating of vases. A jacket (13) surrounding theextraction column maintains a constant temperature in the column withsteam or cooling water as required.

The raffinate (16) is routed to a vacuum distillation column (10). Thesolvent and some light diesel exit through the top of the column (18).They are cooled and condensed in a condenser (11), and allowed toseparate in an accumulator (12). The treated diesel (19) exits from thebottom of the column, cooled, mixed with the oil recovered from thesolvent (23) and the light oil phase from the accumulator (20) and sentto storage.

Another method to recover the solvent in the raffinate is to centrifugethe raffinate. However, the separation between the solvent and the oilis not as good as in the vacuum distillation recovery method. Thesolvent losses increase.

The extract (17), drawn from the bottom of the bottom decanter (8), isrouted to another vacuum distillation column (14) to recover the solventand oil, exiting from the top of the column (22), from the residue,exiting from the bottom of the column. After passing through a separator(15), the solvent (24) is recycled to the extraction column, along withthe solvent (21) from the oil recovery column. The oil (23) is routed tostorage, along with streams (19) and (20). The portion of the recycledsolvent boiling between 150° C. and 250° C. contains the solutizingcomponents.

EXAMPLES

The invention will now be further illustrated by mean of the followingnon limiting examples 1 to 4. All four examples were performed using thepurification unit illustrated in FIG. 1 and the reactive solventextraction according to block diagram in FIG. 2. Except for Example 1,wherein the methanol was introduced at the bottom of the extractioncolumn and the unstable oil at the top of the extraction column. In FIG.2, “S” refers to the solvent, “GO” refers to the gasoil (or wide rangediesel), “I” refers to the impurities, “R” refers to the residue, andindicia “1, 2, 3, 4” indicate varying concentrations and stages in theprocess.

Recycled DMF from the process, or from another source, along withmake-up DMF, is measured and introduced at the top of a continuouslystirred extraction column (a), 6 cm in diameter and 250 cm high. Widerange diesel produced from used oil in a thermal cracker is measured andintroduced at the bottom of the same column. The column's 111 cm stirredsection is divided into three parts, each part containing ten cells. Thecells are divided from one another by a horizontal, doughnut-shapebaffle. The stirrer's shaft, in the middle of the column, is equippedwith two paddles per cell. The variable speed stirrer can turn atbetween 50 rpm and 150 rpm. The envelope around the contactor maintainsstable temperatures in the contactor with circulating water or steam.The contactor operates at atmospheric pressure and 25° C. The stirrerturns at around 100 rpm. The decanter at the top of the contactor columnseparates the raffinate from the solvent and the decanter at the bottomof the column separates the extract from the feed diesel. The level inthe contactor is maintained with a container, attached by a tube to thecontactor, and placed at variable heights. The extract and raffinate areweighted and sent off plot for solvent recovery by vacuum distillationor centrifuging at 10,000 rpm of both the extract and the raffinate.

Example 1 Use of Methanol in the Process

Table I, Experiment 1, illustrates the best results obtained usingmethanol as solvent. For this experiment, the column was heated to 50°C. (122° F.).

Although the oil is stabilized, its sulphur content is unchanged by theextraction process, and its flash point is reduced below the 55° C.(131° F.) specified for heating oil in Europe.

TABLE I EXPERIMENT No 1: Solvent at 99.9% wt Methanol, Feeddiesel/solvent ratio = 3/2 Method Units Feed Diesel Product DieselDensity ISO 3675 Kg/l 0.85 0.84 Sulphur ISO 8754 % m/m 0.366 0.366 WaterISO 10336 mg/kg 0.13 0.02 Total Acid Number mg KOH/g 4.23 0.8 FlashPoint ASTM D92 C. 69 26 Micro Carbon Residue ISO 10370 % m/m 0.6 0.3Cetane Index EPCN 322 53.9 59.1 Colour after 1 day exposed to air ASTMD1500 8 3 Colour after 5 months exposed to air ASTM D1500 7 4

It is to be noted that the methanol extraction does not reduce thesulphur content in the treated diesel.

Example 2 Use of DMF—Pure (99.9% Wt)

Table II illustrates the results of three experiments using thepolarized solvent: dimethyl formamide (DMF).

In all experiments, the oil is stabilized and keeps its light yellowcolour for at least 6 months.

The flash point is unchanged in the extraction process. The net heatingvalue is also unchanged.

The sulphur content is reduced in all three tests. There is a 63%reduction in sulphur content when pure solvent is used. When a solventthat is not completely regenerated is used, the sulphur removal isimproved to meet the new European sulphur specifications for heating oilof less than 0.1% wt. The water content of the oil is also reduced tobelow the 250 ppm specification.

TABLE II EXPERIMENT No 2: Solvent at 99.9% wt DMF, Feed diesel/solventratio = 1/1 Method Units Feed Diesel Product Diesel Density ISO 3675Kg/l 0.844 0.828 Sulphur ISO 8754 % m/m 0.322 0.119 Water ISO 10336mg/kg 0.077 0.009 Total Acid Number mg KOH/g 4.37 1.13 Flash Point ASTMD92 C. 69 66 Micro Carbon Residue ISO 10370 % m/m 0.53 0.047 CetaneIndex EPCN 322 54.8 60.7 Colour after 1 day exposed to air ASTM D1500 61 Colour after 5 months exposed to air ASTM D1500 7 1.5

Example 3 Contaminated DMF—at 83.4% Wt in the Solvent Feed Stream

The same experiment as in example 1 and 2 is performed, except that thesolvent is at 83.4% wt DMF, Feed diesel/solvent ratio=1/1.

TABLE III EXPERIMENT No 3: Solvent at 83.4% wt DMF, Feed diesel/solventratio = 1/1 Method Units Feed Diesel Product Diesel Density ISO 3675Kg/l 0.844 0.834 Sulphur ISO 8754 % m/m 0.339 0.066 Water ISO 10336mg/kg 0.098 0.012 Total Acid Number mg KOH/g 1.54 0.15 Flash Point ASTMD92 C. 69 57 Cetane Index EPCN 322 57.1 60.2 Colour after 1 day exposedto air ASTM D1500 6 1 Colour after 5 months exposed to air ASTM D1500 71.5

Note the abnormality in the 0 to 10% cut of the treated gasoil, and thecorresponding heads and tails in the recycled solvent curve. Thedistillation curves in FIGS. 2 and 3 demonstrate that the “solutizers”in this process have boiling points between 125° C. and 200° C. Withanother solvent, the “solutizers” may have a different boiling pointrange.

Example 4 Contaminated DMF: 77.25% Wt in the Solvent Feed Stream

The same experiment as in example 1 and 2 is performed, except that thesolvent contains 77.25% wt DMF, Feed diesel/solvent ratio=1/1

TABLE IV EXPERIMENT No 4: Solvent at 77.25% wt DMF, Feed diesel/solventratio = 1/1 Method Units Feed Diesel Product Diesel Density ISO 3675Kg/l 0.844 0.834 Sulphur ISO 8754 % m/m 0.315 0.086 Water ISO 10336mg/kg 0.11 0.011 Total Acid Number mg KOH/g 4.27 0.56 Flash Point ASTMD92 C. 53 60 Micro Carbon Residue ISO 10370 % m/m 0.544 0.086 CetaneIndex EPCN 322 54.2 60 Colour after 1 day exposed to air ASTM D1500 5.51.5 Colour after 5 months exposed to air ASTM D1500 7 1.5

These experiments show that the impurities in the incompletelyregenerated solvent facilitate the mass transfer of sulphur compoundsfrom the gasoils to the solvent, as did the solutizers for light oils inolder patents.

The incompletely regenerated solvent was obtained by heating the extractto 170° C. in a thin film evaporator operating at 120 mBar.

Example 5 Use as Cetane Index Enhancer

In the case of a refinery having 10,000 barrels of diesel fuel with acetane index at 38, adding 1,000 barrels of the new stabilized oil, witha 60 cetane index, obtained in previous example 4, will bring thecombined 11,0000 barrels to the specified 40 cetane index for roaddiesel in North America.

Example 6 Use in a Drilling Mud Base Oil or Component

The new stabilized oil obtained in previous example 3 is mechanicallyincorporated in a drilling fluid according to the protocol described inU.S. Pat. No. 2,994,660, where diesel oil is mixed with an aqueous phasecontaining a variety of chemicals. The ratio of oil phase to water phaseranges from 80/20 to 35/65 preferably about 50/50 resulting in a newinvert emulsion drilling fluid.

Example 7 Use in as Flotation Oil Component

In order to get the floatation oil a refinery's catalytic crackerfractionators bottom oil (CCFB) is mixed with the new stabilized oilobtained in previous example 4. The ratio of stabilized oil to CCFB canvary between 1/0.5 and 1/5 depending on the type of ore entering thefloatation cell. In the present example the ratio of stabilized oil toCCFB is of 1/5 and the ore is of the potash type. The temperature in theflotation cell is about 15° C.

The resulting flotation composition is advantageously used in Canada.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

The extraction process described in this patent stabilizes, dries andneutralizes wide range diesel, while removing most of the sulphur,chlorine, and water. As in other extraction processes researched,complete regeneration of the solvent is difficult because DMF or othersolvents having a dipole moment greater than 2 disintegrate around 350°C. (or at other temperatures depending upon the selected solvent).Usually azeotropic distillation is used, with water as the thirdcomponent. However, in this case, complete regeneration of the DMF isnot necessary, or even desirable, since the extraction process is moreeffective when reaction products from previous passes are present in thesolvent.

This invention is a simple and low cost process to stabilize,desulphurize, neutralize and dry unstable oils, containing freeradicals, such as those oils produced by thermal or catalytic crackingof heavier oils. It can be used as a product oil finishing process in aused oil plant, to debottleneck a hydrotreating unit in a refinery or asa diesel oil finishing step in a refinery. The extraction is performedat ambient temperatures and pressures. The solvent can be regeneratedwith a simple vacuum distillation or centrifuge. It does not require anazeotropic distillation to achieve near complete regeneration, sincecomplete regeneration is not desired. Oxidation of the mercaptans,thiols, and nitrogen compounds prior to their extraction from the oil isnot required. In the case of used oil plants, a gasoil meeting allEuropean heating oil specifications can be produced withouthydrotreating.

Although the present invention has been described with the aid ofspecific embodiments, it should be understood that several variationsand modifications may be grafted onto the embodiments and that thepresent invention encompasses such modifications, usages or adaptationsof the present invention that will become known or conventional withinthe field of activity to which the present invention pertains, and whichmay be applied to the essential elements mentioned above.

1. A process to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, the process comprising at least one step of mixing the unstable oil with a solvent having a dipole moment greater than 2, provided that the solvent, after its contamination with impurities produced during the first contact between the unstable oil and the solvent, is at least partially recycled in the process after being partially purified or without any purification.
 2. The process according to claim 1, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the unstable oil is selected among the family of: mixtures made of at least 50% wt of hydrocarbons which may include free radicals, unstable oils containing free radicals, any oil which colour deteriorates over time and/or when exposed to heat or/and oxygen and/or oxidizing chemicals and/or other oils, oils produced by thermal cracking, unstable oils obtained by catalytic cracking, unstable oils obtained by decomposition, unstable oils obtained by degradation, and/or the mixtures of at least two of the latter unstable oils.
 3. The process according to claim 1, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, the process including at least one step of contacting a stream of the unstable oil with a solvent having a dipole moment greater than 2 and, thus, obtaining two mixtures, the first mixture being of an oil-solvent type and containing impurities, and the second mixture being of a solvent-oil type and containing residues and impurities, the impurities in the solvent-oil mixture being identical or different of the impurities in the oil-solvent mixture.
 4. The process according to claim 3, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from a unstable oil, wherein at least a fraction of the solvent having a dipole moment greater than 2 that is present in at least one of the two mixtures is extracted from the mixture(s) and is at least partially regenerated before being recycled to the process.
 5. The process according to claim 4, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, the process including the following steps of: a) intimately contacting a stream of the unstable oil with a solvent having a dipole moment greater than 2 and, thus, obtaining two mixtures, the first mixture being of an oil-solvent type and containing impurities, and the second mixture being of a solvent-oil type and containing residues and impurities, the impurities in the solvent-oil mixture being identical or different from the impurities in the oil-solvent mixture; b) separating the treated oil, present in the oil-solvent mixture obtained in step a), from the solvent, leaving most of the impurities in the solvent phase; c) separating the solvent and the oil, present in the solvent-oil mixture obtained in step a), from the residues, leaving preferably at least 60% wt, preferably 75% wt and more preferably more than 90% wt of the contaminants in the residues; d) optionally separating the solvent and the light oil present in the oil-solvent mixture obtained in step b); e) optionally separating the solvent and the oil obtained in step c); and f) recycling at least one of the solvents obtained in steps b), c), d) or e), wherein each of the solvent is at least partially regenerated.
 6. The process according to claim 5, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein, in step b), at least 80% wt, preferably at least 90% wt, of the impurities remain in the solvent phase.
 7. The process according to claim 6, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein in step f), at least one of each of the solvent is regenerated for at least 50% wt but for less or equal to 99% wt, and preferably for at least 55% wt but for less or equal to 98% wt, before recycling.
 8. The process according to claim 7, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein in step f), at least one of each of the solvent is regenerated by using at least one of the following means: distillation, vacuum distillation, azeotropic distillation and/or centrifugation.
 9. The process according to claim 8, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein in step f), at least one of each of the solvent is regenerated by using distillation and/or vacuum distillation and/or centrifugation.
 10. The process according to claim 9, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the boiling range of the unstable oil, as measured by the method ASTM D86, ranges from 125° C. to 500° C.
 11. The process according to claim 10, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the boiling range of the unstable oil, as measured by the method ASTM D86, ranges from 175° C. to 450° C.
 12. The process according to claim 11, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the boiling range of the treated oil in step a), as measured by the method ASTM D86, ranges from 125° C. to 500° C.
 13. The process according to claim 12, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the boiling range of the treated oil in step a), as measured by the method ASTM D86, ranges from 175° C. to 450° C.
 14. The process according to claim 13, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the unstable oil is produced by cracking used oil, heavy oil, bitumen, vacuum gasoil, vacuum residue, tar, synthetic crude oil, bunker or is produced by cracking a mixture of at least two of the latter.
 15. The process according to claim 14, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the solvent is chosen among N-methyl pyrrolidone, furfural, dimethyl formamide, phenol, pyridine, dimethyl acetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide and propylene carbonate, and among mixtures of at least two of the latter.
 16. The process according to claim 15, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the regenerated solvent, obtained in steps b), c), d) and/or f), may still contains some impurities or reaction products.
 17. The process according to claim 16, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein contaminants include: water, sulphur compounds such as mercaptans and thiols, organic chlorides, organic and inorganic acids, free radicals, resins, gums, sediments, reaction products and mixtures of at least two of these.
 18. The process according to claim 17, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the solvent concentration in the regenerated solvent stream obtained, in step f), ranges from 50% wt to 99% wt.
 19. The process according to claim 18, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the solvent concentration in the regenerated solvent stream obtained, in step f), ranges from 70% wt to 90% wt and is more preferably about 83% wt.
 20. The process according to claim 19, to stabilize and to remove contaminants from an unstable oil, wherein the regenerated solvent is produced, in step f), by physical processes such as distillation and/or centrifugation. 